Good Intentions
by Ellis Loves Horses
Summary: Ellis can't come to terms with Keith becoming an infected. He decides to keep Keith in his garage and feed him until he is forced to kill his best friend.
1. Prologue

Prologue

Sharp eyes scanned the cul-de-sac. They were waiting and hopeful but also determined and twisted. The owner of the eyes growled in hunger. It wanted food. It scratched at the door that locked it inside the cramped space. Just outside the door, a low sobbing could be heard. "M-mum. Mummy." The creature growled. "Haaaa!" it coughed, attempting to cry to its mother. "Hungrrrrrrrrrrr!" The sobbing just continued outside the door.

The darkness in the room disappeared for a second as a white pickup pulled into the driveway of the home. "D-daddrrrraaaaaaaaaaawr!" the creature leaped around the room frantically.

A man stepped out of the truck. His features were handsome and dark. His chin was broad and his build was muscular, his hair was dark and his legs were long. He made his way to the home in long strides, studying the quarantine signs which littered the front yards of every house in the neighborhood.

It had only been about an hour since he had made plans with his son. He pulled out two tickets to a baseball game from his pockets. He was sure that, even though they would be late to the game, his son would love it.

He walked casually to the house, though the quarantine signs worried him a bit, wouldn't his wife had told him if something was up? He walked to the door and knocked on it quietly. There was no sound so he knocked once more, no answer. This time, he knocked louder and the response was a large clatter of ceramic dishes breaking and then a bone-chilling screech. That was all the man had to hear before whipping out his keys and unlocking the door. His ex-wife barreled into him.

"Save us!" She shouted, sobbing into his arms. "I-I know he's our son but- But I had to! I had to lock him in there!" She apologized. The man let go of his wife and ran past her. What had she done to their son? He ran to his son's bedroom and knocked open the door.

The creature inside turned its head to the mechanism that had trapped it inside the room. It was gone, to the creatures delight! It pounced outwards at something instinctively. Beneath the monster, a cry was heard. It looked down to see a frightened man holding its face. It didn't like the hands on its cheeks. It bit at the person beneath it, sinking its teeth into the person's arms. A loud and painful yell came from the person.

"KEITH!" screamed the man's ex-wife. The handsome man took the creatures face in his hands, despite the pain from the bite, and he twisted its neck until it went slack against his body. The woman cried desperately, pounding on her fists into the ground. "Keith, that was our son. Our boy!" she cried. Keith hugged her tightly and made a fist around the ball tickets he had bought for his son.

End


	2. My Best Friend

**Hello! I've decided to split the first chapter and the prologue so it's a bit shorter. So here's the first chapter. Please review after reading, it'd be spectacular if you would!  
Also, I know it seems like this story might not go anywhere beyond Ellis and Keith but, trust me, it will. The others will be showing up soon, just be patient for the next chapter. :)  
****Trust me on this! Next chapter, no valve time! **

* * *

Inside the garage was dark. The mechanic sat at the dirt-stained window, staring out at the light traffic passing by. He turned his head to admire the poster up on the wall. Next to his hat, the three-foot image of the young man's hero, Jimmy Gibbs Jr., was his most cherished possession. His best friend and coworker, Keith, had gotten him that poster; nearly got himself run over chasing down the stock-car racer's bus, just to get it signed.

"Ellis, you 'bout ready to skiddaddle on out of here?" asked Keith from the other room.

Ellis turned to face his friend, studying his features carefully. He looked tired as if he hadn't been sleeping for a couple of days. His cheeks were sunken in along with his eyes. His muscles were weakening and his hair was thin and grey. He looked like a decaying corpse.

Nothing about the younger man's concern was brought up to his friend. He tied his dickie coveralls: stained with oil and mud, tight around his waist and fixed his blue cap against his brown locks. He nodded and the two piled into Keith's pickup.

As they passed beneath the street lights, Ellis would steal glances at the bruised bite on Keith's arm. When he inquired Keith about the bite previously, Keith said a dog had bit him; it was nothing to worry about. Though the look of the bite was not from sharp teeth, and the bruising had changed from a healthy purple and brown to a deep, sickening, black.

When the two happened upon a stop light, Ellis finally voiced his concern about the bruise on Keith's arm.

"Shit, Keith. You ain't lookin so good."

"What're you talkin' 'bout, El?" Keith asked, not fully understanding his friend's observation.

"I mean yer bite, bro. It don't look right." Ellis explained.

"I told you a hundred times afore, I'm fine. My boy got a new pup and it jus' don't take kindly to new folk." Keith defended himself.

"Keith, I know dog bites. You've been bitten by dogs more times than I can count on both my hands, that ain't a bite from no canine."

Keith sat silently and rested his forehead against his steering wheel. He did something he had never wanted to do in front of Ellis, cry.

"You're right, El. I got bit by my son." He sniffed. "My own goddamn flesh n' blood bit me."

Ellis looked in disbelief. "Why'd he bite you?"

"I don't know, El!" Keith shouted. "He and his ma were locked inside their house, quarantined or summin'. I heard a commotion so I went inside and when I went to go check up on my boy, he jumped me and bit me." A tear streaked down Keith's cheek. Ellis had never seen his buddy cry before and it made him a bit nervous. "I couldn't get 'im off me. I had ta twist his neck and kill 'im." Keith went silent and Ellis didn't bother commenting. Soon, Keith finished his story. "I killed my own son with my bare hands."

The two sat in silence for about fifteen minutes, not having moved from the stop light, which had changed its traffic signal many times during their silence. As they sat quietly, Ellis thought about Keith's son. He could guess that they were quarantined because of the flu but, what exactly was the flu other than a cold?

"Y'know, I was goin' there to pick him up for the ball game. We was gonna be late, but I thought he'd appreciate goin', yeah? Since then, I ain't slept or ate none. Ever'time I close my eyes, I can see his face snappin' at me, like he's trying to eat me up or summin'. I dunno what I'm gonna do, El."

The younger man got out of the truck from the passenger's side door and walked to the other side of the vehicle. He opened Keith's door and ordered him to scooch over. "What say we fill up your truck, grab a bite to eat, then head over to my place to sleep?"

"Sure." Keith agreed. He moved over, letting Ellis into the driver's seat.

Ellis drove the pickup into a gas station, happy that Keith had fallen asleep on the ride there. He pulled up beside one of the pumps and took out a twenty dollar bill from his wallet before getting out of the truck. He walked into the tiny building where the stations clerk usually waited for people to pay before activating the pumps. "Twenty." Ellis said, handing the clerk the money, but he didn't take it. "Uh, sir?" Ellis waved his hand in front of the clerk's face, only to get no response. He tucked the bill back inside his wallet and walked out of the tiny office. He'd activate the pump himself with a debit card. He pulled out the hard plastic and swiped it through the machine, the machine registered the card and a noise was heard, meaning the pump was ready to fuel up a vehicle. As Ellis waited for the gas to fill up the truck, he noticed out of the corner of his eye that the clerk was heading towards him. "It's alright now, mister. I paid with my card." He explained. The clerk didn't do anything except shuffle closer to the boy. Under the dim light of the gas station, Ellis could make out the same features as Keith. Pale skin, sunken eyes and cheeks, and an overall look of decay.

"Sir?" Ellis asked, but the clerk didn't respond. He shuffled closer and Ellis armed himself with a shovel from the back of Keith's truck. "Sir…?" Ellis asked again. This time, the clerk lunged himself at the young man, knocking him to the ground, letting the shovel clatter beside him. The clerk's jaw bit down sharply but missed its target as El rolled over and grabbed the shovel before stumbling to his feet. The clerk attacked once again but Ellis was prepared and swung the shovel at the man's head, breaking his neck and sending him to the ground. "Oh, shit!" Ellis screamed. "Oh shit, oh shit, oh shit!" He muttered continuously. What was he going to do? He had just killed a man. "It… It was self defense, yeah. That's it." He rubbed sweat from his forehead. He couldn't tell Keith about this, there was no way. He heard the pump shut off, the tank was full. He hadn't meant to fill the tank. He pulled the gas pump out of the truck and put it back where it belonged. As he retrieved his card from the machine, he heard a faint growl come from behind him. He turned around, slowly. Immediately, the man he thought he just killed pounced him, knocking him to the ground.

"Ellis!" Keith shouted from the truck, he opened the door, just as the man was going to bite his friend and ripped his body from the mechanic's. He snarled uncharacteristically and the two began fighting each other. Ellis stayed low on the ground, too terrified to move. Before long, the clerk fell to the ground, motionless. A large gash of flesh had been torn from his neck.

"Keith, you do that to him?" Ellis asked. His question was answered when his friend dropped something out of his bloody hand.

"Load him up in the back. We'll deal with him tomorrow." Keith went into the building and took a pack of cigarettes from the back wall and lit up one between his bloody fingers. Ellis didn't question him as he loaded the dead man's body into the bed of the truck and flipped up the back end.

On the ride to Ellis' house, Keith had made sure that his junior didn't feel guilty for what they had done. He had told his friend to forget about it and soon, it'd all be behind them. Ellis felt assured and no longer frightened about their situation. When they arrived, Ellis pulled into the garage and turned off the truck. He walked to the back and covered the body with a tarp. Like Keith said, they'd deal with it tomorrow. He walked to Keith's door and opened it up. "Keith, you awake?" He asked, unbuckling his friend. His eyes were opened but non-responsive. It frightened Ellis just a bit because the store clerk had acted the same way to him. "Keith, I'm gonna go inside. Come in when you feel like it."

The next morning was when it started. Keith hadn't come in from the garage like Ellis thought he would. He was extremely worried about his friend. He walked from the bedroom across the kitchen and to the door of the garage where he heard heavy chewing coming from the other side. He pushed open the door slightly and peeked in. Keith didn't notice the door opening as he tore apart the dead man's corpse with his hands and teeth. Ellis gulped and slammed the door just as Keith noticed the intruder.

Keith pounded against the door, attempting to free himself from his prison. Ellis wouldn't be able to stand there forever guarding the door. He turned on his side, shoulder pressed firmly against the door and locked it. That seemed to do the trick because soon afterward, Keith gave up trying to escape and continued munching on the dead man in the truck.

"Man, that is some crazy shit." He commented, retreating from the door. Ellis observed throughout the next couple of days that Keith liked a couple of things. He liked jumping. Even though there wasn't much height in his confinement, whenever Ellis came into the garage, Keith would jump from the other side of the truck and land on top of him, trying to eat him. Another thing Keith liked was flesh. Ellis had found that out after a couple failed attempts at getting him to eat dog food or people food which lead to him almost losing an arm. After that, Ellis wore a goalie's hockey equipment which he had used back when he and Keith tried to deep fry a turkey. Though it wasn't the most delicious thing he could eat, the infected Keith didn't mind being fed zombies that Ellis had so proudly head shot from the attic window. Of course, the decaying zombie flesh wasn't enough to sustain his hunger so Ellis had to feed his friend two zombies a day.

When Ellis wasn't watching Keith, he was watching the news coverage on the flu. A pretty reporter talked about the symptoms of the virus and how to prevent infection, though there wasn't much else on what exactly the virus did to people. Ellis had heard it all before, though, he just liked watching the lady on TV in the pink Depeche Mode shirt.

One day, while fortifying his safe haven, Ellis had shot what he thought was a zombie. In the end, it turned out that the "zombie" had been a rabbit. A mighty big rabbit. He gave the rabbit to Keith as a little treat. Keith loved the fresh flesh. As Keith ate, Ellis knew he was safe from being attacked so he continuously talked to his friend, even though the words he spoke meant nothing to his companion.

"Hey Keith, you remember that one time when you were in the tunnel o' love and you almost drowned on account of yer girl not savin' ya cuz she didn't wanna get wet?" He laughed, Keith just snarled, not really enjoying the company of the mechanic. As the mechanic went on and on about his stories, Keith continued munching on the dead rabbit, digesting it fur and all.

As Ellis was about to tell another story, he was interrupted by someone. He looked down at Keith who had stopped munching on the rabbit. "Keith, did you just say sumthin'?" Ellis asked. Keith just looked at Ellis, glad his stories had ended.

Ellis stood up immediately, a large grin smacked across his face. "My buddy's back!" He shouted, hugging Keith who gave a warning snarl before pouncing on top of Ellis. The young man had lost his mind, believing that he could communicate with his lost friend, thinking he had been told to get the zombie live human flesh. "Don't worry bud, I'll get you some real meat!" He shouted, pushing the infected off of him and retreating to the Kitchen where he grabbed his hunting rifle; he was going hunting... For survivors.


	3. You Call Them Zombies?

Nick waited outside the empty garage. His car had been towed there when it wouldn't start up and some dumb ass mechanic was supposed to be fixing it for him, which it didn't seem like there was anyone working on his car at all. He peered through the window to see if anyone was inside. "Oh, come on!" he shouted, kicking the garage door. "I need my car so I can high-tail it out of this shit hole." He mumbled angrily.

"Can I help you?" A voice questioned from behind Nick. The gambler turned around, facing the voice. A large chocolate man stood before him, peering into Nick's lying eyes. "You lookin' for someone?" He asked.

"Yeah, I'm looking for the prick who's supposed to be working on my car." Nick replied. "You know him?"

"Mister, I don't like your attitude."

"Whatever. Do you know the guy or not?"

"What if I said yes?"

"Mind taking me to him so I can kick his ass?"

"Son, you'd be better off heading to the mall before you go off hurting others."

"Listen, I don't care about this flu thing. I _ain't_ afraid of getting sick, tubbs. Just tell me where I can find this asshole and I'll be on my way."

The man crossed his arms stubbornly. "Fine."

Ellis drove his pickup down the road, a body was piled into the back of the truck. It was a young girl who had lost her thought process to the flu but still had a fresh, healthy look about her. He knew Keith wanted living people but living flesh would do.

Inside Ellis' garage, Keith was waiting, munching on some left-over flesh from the zombies he had been feeding on. He was not expecting the meal he was about to get, even if Ellis thought his friend had ordered him to get him people to eat. He perked up when he heard the wheels of a vehicle pull into the driveway. His first instinct was to hide.

Ellis dragged the dead girls body through the kitchen, dropping her on the ground when he came to the garage door. A pool of blood spilled from her split cranium. "Sorry." Ellis apologized to the corpse. He opened the door and hollered to Keith. "Dinner!"

Keith replied back with a growl; lunging at Ellis and the corpse. He pounced on top of the girl and began tearing at her. Ellis donned his hockey armor as the infected ate. "Happy?" he asked the infected as he settled the shoulder pads over his head. The infected growled, though to Ellis, his friend had bluntly thanked him for the meal.

He tugged on his hat as Keith ate the poor girl Ellis had brought. "Remember when you got this hat for me?" Ellis asked, taking off the blue cap and showing it to Keith who smacked at it, ripping the fabric with his sharp nails. "Aw, c'mon man, that's not cool." Ellis whined, rubbing the cut as if it would just magically go away if he did. "You got me this hat for my twenty-first birthday. That night was so crazy, we got all the girls so drunk and I'll admit, I was jealous at how many you got to bring into the hotel room at the casino." The mechanic chuckled, the infected growled, though Ellis believed his friend was laughing along with him. He stared admiringly at the hat. "Yeah, that was a great day." He sighed, adjusting the size of the cap constantly as little clicks accompanied the gesture. This annoyed the infected, but he was too busy eating to do anything about it.

There was a rap at the front door which caused Keith to perk up. His first impression was more food. Ellis stood up, wondering who could be at his front door. "I'll be back, Keith." Ellis told his friend, removing the armor. The infected returned to his food, glad his company was leaving him in peace.

"Ellis, you in there?" A booming voice echoed from the porch. Ellis opened the door and greeted the two men on his doorstep, one of them a coach from the high school and the other a man he was unfamiliar with.

"Can I help you, Coach?" Ellis asked.

"I came to introduce this gentleman to you. He says you were supposed to be working on his car. You been slackin' off, boy?" Coach teased, grabbing Ellis and holding him in a headlock as he noogied his knuckles into the poor boy's head.

"Oh, Keith and I jus been busy lately, an' all." He admitted.

"Busy fucking each other?" The unfamiliar man chuckled.

"No, he's been sick. I've been takin' care of him." Ellis replied, releasing himself from Coach's hold.

"Boy, he ain't got the flu, does he?" Coach asked, worried.

"Naw, nothing like that." Ellis lied, though Coach could see right through the boy's fib.

"Ellis, where's Keith?" Coach ordered the mechanic to answer. He didn't say anything but his eyes darted to the door which he had forgotten to lock on his way to greet the two.  
Coach stomped past the mechanic, leaving Ellis with the unknown visitor. Ellis examined the man, he sported a white suit which had lipstick smeared on the collar; his hair was slicked back with hair glue, though a few strands had managed to spring loose. Ellis didn't quite like the look of this man; he could instantly tell that he wasn't from Savannah.

Coach reached out for the door, Ellis diverted his attention from the gambler to the door. He became incredibly nervous.  
The man's stubby fingers wrapped around the doorknob tightly and turned it slowly. The door squeaked on it's hinges.

On the other side of the door, Keith waited. He had stopped eating the girl after he finished off the parts of her that were most delicious; leaving the decaying bits alone. As soon as he heard the hinges creak, he readied himself for a pounce.

Coach opened the door and immediately, the infected Keith jumped out, landing on top of Ellis; knocking him to the ground. Ellis let out a painful cry as Keith bit down on the mechanic's skin. The man in white quickly whipped out a pistol and shot the infected in the head; its body fell limp against the younger man. Ellis cried beneath his friend's body.  
The man in white returned his pistol to his coat and pushed the body off of the kid. He grabbed his arm and helped him up.  
"You okay, son?" Coach asked. Ellis nodded silently. "Boy, what were you doing with that thing in there?"

"He wasn't a thing, he was Keith." Ellis replied. "He was my best friend. I was just feedin' him zombies."

"Zombies? Is that what you call these things?" The man in white asked, kicking Keith's lifeless body.

"Don't do that!" Ellis shouted, shoving the man away.

"Geez, kid. You don't have to get pushy. It's a monster. A _dead_ monster that I saved you from, might I add." the man retorted.

"What's your name, son?" Coach asked the man in the white suit.

"Nick." he replied.


	4. NOTE

**NOTICE**

So, I've decided that I'm completely rewriting this story. I've gotten a much better idea on how to go about all this and I've done a lot more research on the l4d universe to help my writing. So, I'm currently writing the first chapter and I'll have it up soon as a new story. I won't delete this one, though.

So, anyway, look forward to the new write up.


End file.
